Ferries in Kansas, Part II, Kansas River, Continued

by George A. Root

November 1933 (Vol. 2, No. 4), pages 343 to 376

THE next ferry up river was at a point called "Bald Eagle," opposite present Lecompton and about two miles distant from Douglas. At this point William K. Simmons, an old frontiersman who had crossed the plains in 1852, returned and took up a claim and started a ferry. His location had been named "Bald Eagle" on account of a number of bald eagles which nested in the tall sycamores that grew on either side of the river at this point. He was the first settler in the vicinity and made a living by fishing and operating his ferry. 149 This was the second ferry in operation within the limits of present Douglas county.

Ely Moore, for many years a resident of Lecompton, in "The Story of Lecompton," describes this early ferry. Arriving in that vicinity in the early fifties and wishing to cross the river, he approached a wagon and made his wants known.

"The wagon boss pointed to a huge sycamore log some twenty feet long, five feet in diameter with an excavation in the center five feet in length, three feet wide and two feet deep, with a 4 x 6-inch scantling for a keel, remarking, 'Thar's the ferry and hyars the ferryman.' As I looked my doubts about crossing on that log, he answered my looks by saying: 'Don't feel skeery, mister, for she's as dry as a Missourian's throat and as safe as the American flag.' "

Simmons was a member of Lane's regiment in the Mexican War, and had two honorable wounds in that struggle. Mr. Moore pays him this tribute: "In many respects he was a remarkable man. Even in the babyhood days of this city [Lecompton] when water- and-milk was an expensive luxury and whiskey subject to call, he refrained from its use, and no man ever heard him utter a profane word. Poor Bill may be dead, but if he is, many a worse man is living." 150

Just how long Simmons operated his ferry at Bald Eagle has not been learned. However, it probably was not later than 1857. The following reference is from the Kansas Weekly Herald, Leavenworth, August 9, 1856. It was written by a member of the "twenty-seven

hundred" who came over from Missouri to assist in wiping out Lawrence and is part of one of a series of articles describing his

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experiences on the expedition. In "Notes to and from the Siege of Lawrence," under date of May 18, 1856, this writer says:

"To-day we are to cross the Kaw river, and to get to Lecompton. An enormous flatboat, seemingly large enough for another Noah's Ark, receives us on board, bag and baggage. The baggage being packed on board upon our shoulders, we are further convinced, to use rather a stale phrase, that 'Jordan is a hard road to travel.' To get to the other side is now the difficulty. We all work our passage, hauling ourselves along by an old rope and making about half mile per hour. After keeping up this process until we are far above the capitol, we strike out, and at the imminent risk of several of our men, strike terra firma."

In 1857 Joseph Haddox laid out a town called Rising Sun, which was located close to the ferry landing on Simmons' claim. This was directly opposite Lecompton, the territorial capital. At the new town, in 1857, Jerome Kunkel 151 established a ferry. 152 He received a charter for his ferry in 1858 and also became a member of the town company the same year. Rising Sun grew into a lively little village and was the business point for the township for several years. Upon the building of the Union Pacific Railroad up the Kaw valley in 1865 and the establishment of Medina, a short distance away, its business was soon taken away by the new town. Decline was slow but steady, and by 1883 every vestige of Rising Sun had disappeared, and the site is now a cultivated field. 153

In 1861 a state road was established from Rising Sun to Grasshopper Falls, on the west side of Grasshopper (now Delaware) river. In 1863 this road was changed from a point where the road crossed what was known as Spring branch, thence in a northwesterly direction past the east line of Ephraim Bainter's land, thence northwesterly and north, running through the center of sections 24 and 25, T. 9, R. 17, to intersect the original survey at Tillotson's ford. 154

Lecompton was located opposite Simmons' claim and was platted in 1855, being named for Judge Samuel D. Lecompte, territorial chief justice and president of the town company. Other members of the Lecompton town company were: John A. Halderman, secretary; Daniel Woodson, territorial secretary and several times acting governor of the territory, who was treasurer; George W. Clarke, Chauncey B. Donaldson and William K. Simmons. 155 In 1855

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William K. Simmons, Wesley Garrett and Evan Todhunter were granted a charter by the legislature to operate a ferry at the new town of Lecompton. The act granted exclusive privileges up and down the river for a mile each side of the landing, for a five year period, but was in no wise to affect the rights and privileges granted the Lecompton Bridge Company. 156 This company never built a bridge at Lecompton, but a bridge was built at this point by the county during the nineties.

By 1860 Lecompton was without ferry accommodations. That year Robert C. Bishop was authorized by the legislature to operate a ferry across the Kansas river and have exclusive rights of landing within the corporate limits of the city, and for one mile below the eastern limit of the city on the south bank of the river and one mile from and below the west bank of the Grasshopper river on the north bank of the Kansas river. 157 No further history of this ferry has been located.

Owen Baughman is said to have operated a ferry at Lecompton for a time shortly before the building of the bridge in the late 1890's.

J. A. Brown, of Lecompton, in an interview in May, 1932, said:

"Lecompton never had more than one ferry running at a time, from the time of my arrival there in 1857. Jerome Kunkel was operating it at that date. The next year his cousin, Charles Kunkel, was in charge. Jerome Kunkel had been a captain in the army. William McKinney operated the ferry for Kunkel for several years. A. K. Lowe and boys also had charge for awhile. The first ferry was a rope ferry. Later a wire cable was stretched across the river. A wheel ran on this cable, and the boat was so attached to the wheel that the current of the river propelled the boat from one side of the river to the other, with little or no effort on the part of the ferryman. The landing place on the north side of the river was at a point just below the present wagon bridge across the Kaw. On that side of the river, riprapping and other means had been employed to confine the river channel, and there was a network of sunken logs, brush, stone, etc., that limited the channel the ferryboat could operate in. When the ferryboat reached that obstruction it was made fast and the cargo discharged."

Kunkle's ferry operated until about 1876.

According to E. J. Hill, long a resident of Lecompton, William M. McKinney operated the Lecompton ferry from about 1868 to 1870. About 1870 a company built a pontoon bridge to take the place of the ferry. This pontoon was not a success, on account of the swift current of the river, and in less than a year was discontinued.

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The late Albert R. Greene, a former resident of Lecompton, operated the ferry there for about a year during the early 1890's. The Greene home in Lecompton was about half a mile from the river. A wire was strung from the ferry to the house, and when a patron on the opposite side of the river wished to call the boat, the wire was pulled, ringing a bell at the other end and summoning the ferryman. Mr. Greene employed a man to run the ferry, who operated the boat during the day, but was averse to running it after dark, there being practically no business after dark. On several occasions, however, Mr. Greene was routed out of bed along about midnight to take the boat to the opposite side of the river to bring back some belated individual. This happened once or twice too often, so Mr. Greene retired from the ferrying business. 158

Lecompton, probably because it was made the territorial seat of government, was the starting point or terminus of more roads than any other town in Kansas of its size. Two were authorized by the legislature of 1855, one starting from a point above the town of Franklin, on the California road, via the (Horseshoe) lake and the shore of the Kansas river to Lecompton; the other started from Atchison, via Mount Pleasant and Hickory Point, to a point opposite Lecompton. 159 The legislature of 1857 was lavish authorizing no less than ten roads, as follows: One from Lecompton to St. Bernard, thence to the county seat of Franklin county, thence to Pierce in Anderson county, thence to Cofachique, Allen county. 160 Another ran from Wyandotte, by way of Secondine to Lecompton ; 161 another ran from Kickapoo to Lecompton ; 162 another ran from Lecompton to Roseport, Doniphan county; 163 another ran from Leavenworth to Lecompton, with a branch to Lawrence; 164 another from Atchison, via Mount Pleasant, to a point on the Kansas river opposite Lecompton ; 165 another started from Lecompton, via Paola, Paris and Miami to Barnesville on the Little Osage to intersect the Fort Leavenworth-Fort Scott military road ; 166 another ran from Atchison, via Wigglesworth's ford on Stranger creek, to Lecompton ; 167 another ran from Prairie City to Lecompton, 168

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and another started from Lecompton, crossing the Kansas river, running west to Calhoun and there forking, the left hand branch running a west course and intersecting the military road from Leavenworth to Fort Riley on the west of Indianola, and the right hand fork running a northwest direction by way of Elk City to Richmond, the county seat of Nemaha county. 169

According to John McBee, of Topeka, who lived near Kaw City, a few miles north of Grantville, in the late fifties, the settlers in that vicinity traded at Lecompton, crossing the river on Kunkle’s ferry. After the building of the Union Pacific up the Kaw valley and the starting of Medina, this trade went to Medina, which was some miles closer. McBee says a ferry was also operated at Grantville for a time during the sixties. This point is about 10 miles west of old Bald Eagle or Rising Sun, as the town opposite Lecompton was called.

Two attempts at securing a bridge for Lecompton were made during the year 1865. On January 11, that year, the Lecompton Bridge Company, composed of William Morrow, D. S. Mclntosh, L. McArthur, F. F. Benner (?), William M. Nace, Wilson Shannon, Jr., and A. D. Graves (?), was granted a charter to build a bridge to connect Lecompton and Rising Sun. Capital stock of the company was placed at $100,000, with shares at $100 each. This charter was filed with the secretary of state on January 12, 1865. 170 Evidently nothing was done by this company, and on August 14, the same year, a new company, under the same name, was organized by L. McArthur, D. S. Mclntosh, Allen Parish, A. W. Chenoweth, S. Weaver, William M. Nace and William Weaver. Capital stock of the new organization was reduced to $60,000, shares being $100 each. This charter was not filed with the secretary of state until February 27, 1866, and no bridge was built by the new company.

The next ferry site up the river was at Medina. On January 14, 1869, the county commissioners of Jefferson county issued a license to Jerome Kunkel and Wales Saunders, on payment of a $10 fee. 172

This ferry, designated as Saunder's ferry, on the Kansas river, one-half mile southwest of Medina, is mentioned in connection with a road to this point established about July 7, 1869. 173

348 THE KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

In Book B, Proceedings Jefferson County Commissioners, pp. 176, 177, under date of December 6, 1869, is the following:

"Newman Ferry. And now comes John Bouyer [?], Wales Saunders and others of Kentucky township and present their written petition for the establishment of a ferry across the Kansas river one and a half miles above Medina on the road from Newman to Big Springs which said petition is ordered filed and the prayer of the said petitioner after having been duly considered by the board and the board being fully satisfied thereof is granted, and it is ordered by the board that the license for said ferry issue to the said John Bouyer and Wales Saunders. And it is further ordered by the board that the said John Bouyer & Wales Saunders pay . . . $10.00 for privilege . . . each year."

The next ferry on the river was at Tecumseh, about five miles distant. In 1854 Thomas N. Stinson and J. K. Waysman established a ferry at that point on the section line between Ranges 16 and 17 East. Stinson had been a trader at Uniontown, near the western limit of present Shawnee county on the south side of the Kansas river, since 1848, and when the territory was opened for settlement had located a claim on the river about twenty miles

below on which he laid out the townsite of Tecumseh and started a ferry. Stinson's house was located on an eminence overlooking Calhoun Bluffs to the north of the river. A good road was constructed to the ferry landing and the enterprise was considered an important one, the ferry being the principal crossing for the route from Leavenworth to the Sac and Fox and other southern agencies. 174 In 1855 Stinson was granted a twenty-year charter to maintain a ferry at the new town, the law providing that if the county tribunal failed to fix rates of ferriage the rates prevailing the previous year should remain in force until changed by the county. 175

The following advertisement of this ferry appeared in a Topeka paper, and ran for months, this being copied from the Kansas Tribune, Topeka, April 14, 1856:

"TECUMSEH FERRY KANSAS RIVER

"The nearest and best route from Fort Leavenworth to Council Grove.

"This ferry is now open, and ready to cross teams, passengers and freight at any hour. The ferryboat is large, entirely new, and built for this ferry.

The landings on both sides are excellent at all stages of water, and for swimming cattle across is the best and safest place on the river. Emigrants

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and traders passing on the route between Fort Leavenworth and Council Grove, will find this the shortest and easiest road; Tecumseh being on a direct air line from Fort Leavenworth to Council Grove. It is nine miles from the ferry to the intersection of the Great Military Road, on the north side of the river. Teams leave the Military Road at Rock creek crossing, and thence across the old Parkville crossing of Muddy creek. Distance from Rock creek crossing to Muddy creek crossing, 7 miles; thence to the ferry 2 miles. Tecumseh is on the direct road from Westport to California. Total distance from Leavenworth to Tecumseh, 50 miles; thence to Council Grove, 65 miles; excellent grazing near each landing place free of expense.

James K. Waysman lived about two miles east of Tecumseh, settling there in May, 1854. He rented the ferry owned by T. N. Stinson and operated it. In 1856 the citizens of Tecumseh agreed among themselves that they wouldn't take any sides in the territorial troubles. Once when Mr. Waysman was absent from home, one Donaldson came and took his ferryboat as far as Lecompton. On his return Waysman followed down the river and found his boat still at Lecompton, and brought it home at his own expense. Sometime after Donaldson had taken the boat to Lecompton Mr. Stinson went to Waysman and reported that some men had come to him and asked if they might borrow the boat. Waysman told him they could not have it. These men then went to Waysman and asked to borrow it to take down stream, promising to protect him from the incursions of Free State men if he would do so. Waysman declined, telling them they could not have the boat until they put him out of the way, and further that he did not want their protection. 177

The Kansas Weekly Herald, Leavenworth, of August 4, 1855, had a good write-up of the new town and its ferry. Among other things it said:

". . . The channel runs on the south side of the bed, and the banks and bottom of the river, along here, are rock; consequently free from all danger of the bluffs ever washing off any. There are two good and easy slopes down to the river, besides an excellent road cut and graded down to the ferry

350 THE KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

landing. The ferry is arranged with ropes and buoys, and is probably the best and most certain on the river. The ferry boat is large, new, and capable of crossing three teams and wagons at each trip. The steamboat landing is also a good one, easily approached and perfectly safe from sand bar obstructions."

In 1858 and 1859 Achilles M. Jordan operated the Stinson ferry, but whether as proprietor or for Stinson, we are unable to state. Jordan was a native of Indiana, born in 1824. He came to Kansas in 1855 and settled at Tecumseh. During the Civil War he was employed by the government to purchase live stock for the Union army. His death occurred at Fort Scott, October 9, 1864. 178 The census of 1860 lists him as a ferryman, 36 years of age, born, Indiana; wife, Celia, 27, born, Kentucky; two children, born, Kansas. 179

Just how long Stinson operated his ferry we have been unable to learn, for records of Shawnee county commissioners, prior to 1862, cannot be located in the office of the county clerk. However, in 1862 he signed as surety on a $500 bond with Remi H. Lecompte, 180 who had secured a license for a ferry in that neighborhood.

Remi H. Lecompte's ferry, in all probability, succeeded Stinson's, and operated from that location. On July 7, 1862, he received a license to operate a ferry across the Kansas river with landing privileges on lot 8 of the Kaw half breed lands on the north side of the river, and on the road running from Topeka to Leavenworth. Thomas N. Stinson was surety on his $500 bond required, which was accepted by the county, July 12, 1862. 181

Aside from the following complimentary notice of this ferry from a Topeka paper, no mention other than those found in official records has been found:

"Lecompte's ferry over the Kansas river, four miles below Topeka, is in good running order, and is said by travelers to shorten the distance several miles. Mr. Lecompte is an accommodating, gentlemanly man, and we are glad to know that he is receiving a good share of the traveling custom."

Topeka Weekly State Record, December 17, 1862.

The next year Mr. Lecompte was granted a license for a ferry, the application having recited that the ferry was where the one formerly owned by Updegraff and Brown was established, and about one and one-half miles below the State Road ferry, owned

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and run by A. H. Lafon. His license was for one year, dating from October 1, 1863, and was granted without a tax. 182

In 1864 Lecompte had taken a partner in the ferry business, and the two were granted a license. Following is a copy of the bond they filed:

"Know all men by these presents: That we, L. McArthur, A. H. Case, E.L. Wheeler, Derrick Updegraff as sureties for Remi H. Lecompte and James V. Summers, do acknowledge ourselves to owe and be indebted to the state of Kansas, in the sum of five hundred dollars, upon the following conditions to wit:

"Whereas, Said Remi H. Lecompte and James V. Summers, are about to start and run a ferry across the Kansas river between Shawnee and Jefferson counties, at the place formerly known as the Updegraff ferry, and one and one-half miles below the State Road ferry, kept by Harvey Lafon.

"Now, If said Remi H. Lecompte and James V. Summers shall faithfully perform all duties required by law at such ferry, then this bond shall be void, else remain hi full force . . .

By 1865 Tecumseh was probably without ferry accommodations. Early in the spring the following petition was presented to the Shawnee county officials:

"We, the undersigned petitioners of Tecumseh and vicinity, do pray the county commissioners of Shawnee county Kansas to grant license to Ellie Quiett and Hiram Chapman to have and to run a ferry across the Kansas river at Tecumseh.

This license was granted, and on May 18, following, Ellie Quiett 184 and Hiram Chapman, principals, and Wm. M. Jordan and Wesley Gregg, sureties, signed a bond for $1,000 to run a ferry at the town of Tecumseh until the January, A. D., 1866, term of the board of county commissioners. 185

The next mention of this ferry is for the year 1871, at which time Susan Quiett 186 made application to the board of county commissioners of Jefferson county for a ferry license, which was granted by the board. A bond of $100 was required and the license issued upon payment of the clerk's fees. 187 Shawnee county, however, required a bond of $1,000, which was signed April 28, 1871, by Susan Quiett as principal and J. P. Campbell as surety, for the operation of this ferry for the year 1871, north of the town of Tecumseh, and granting privileges for one-half a mile up and same distance down from said point. Approved May 11, 1871, by P. I. Bonebrake, county clerk. 188

Ferry charges for the years 1872 and 1873 were identical and were: two horses and wagon, 35 cents; one horse and wagon or buggy, 25 cents; horse and rider, 15 cents; loose horses and cattle, 10 cents; sheep or hogs, 5 cents each. 189

Susan Quiett operated the ferry at least until the close of 1873, according to records in the Shawnee county clerk's office. 190 Afterwards, Tecumseh, apparently, was once more without ferry facilities. On April 12, 1876, H. E. Goodell and others, of Tecumseh, presented a petition to the county commissioners, asking that T. F. Quiett be allowed to maintain a ferry without paying the legal license fee. The petition was rejected. 191

"Ed" Taylor, aged 73, of Ozawkie, Jefferson county, has stated that he crossed the Tecumseh ferry many times years ago when he brought vegetables to Topeka to sell. This was about the year 1885. 192 This would indicate that this ferry had been operated more or less continuously for a period of over thirty years. Beer's Atlas of Shawnee County, published in 1873, marks the ferry.

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The legislature which authorized the Tecumseh ferry also established several territorial roads, one from Iowa Point to Eujatah to run by way of Tecumseh, One Hundred and Ten, and Columbia; another from Atchison, by way of Kickapoo, Leavenworth and Hickory Point, to Tecumseh and on to the old Santa Fe road near 110 creek; another from Shawnee mission by way of William Donaldson's, near Mill creek, by Blue Jacket's ferry on the Wakarusa, Big Springs to Tecumseh; and another from Willow Springs, via Glendale, crossing Elk fork of Wakarusa, between claims of Henry W. Frick, and Allen Pearson to the Kansas river at a point above or at Tecumseh. 193 In 1866 a state road was established from Tecumseh, running south as near as practicable on the township line between ranges 16 and 17, and connecting with the state road leading to the Sac and Fox agency. William M. Jordan, Thomas Maguire and John Ridgeway were commissioners appointed to lay out and establish this road. 194

A charter for a bridge at Tecumseh was passed by the legislature of 1855 and approved August 30 that year, giving special privileges to the Kansas River Bridge Company. Apparently little was done until 1857, when the company began soliciting subscriptions for the construction of a bridge. Advertisements of the enterprise named E. Hoogland, of Tecumseh, as being a trustee of the company. On commencement of work it was thought practicable to have teams cross on a temporary bridge inside of sixty days. Early in July that year the corner stone was laid. An iron bridge had been contracted for at Cincinnati, and it was expected the new structure would be completed with little delay. A territorial paper commenting on the new enterprise said: "The Tecumseh bridge is expected to be completed by January 1, 1858. As it is the only bridge across the Kansas river, its stock must prove a profitable investment." 195 After completion of one pier work on the bridge was suspended. In 1862 another effort was made to revive the bridge project. The legislature granted a three-year extension of time beginning with May 1, 1862, for the completion of the bridge, 196 but it was never built.

Goodell’s ferry, 197 about a mile upstream, was the next one. This

354 THE KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

was probably the successor to the Topeka and Perryville Ferry Company, and was located at a point where the Goodell road reached the river this being between S. 25 and 36, T. 11, R. 16. A license was granted to E. A. Goodell to operate a ferry at this point from March 4, 1872, to March 4, 1873, on the payment of $10. Ferriage charges authorized by the county were: two horses and wagon, 25 cents; one horse and buggy, 25 cents; man and horse, 15 cents; footman, 10 cents; loose horses, mules and cattle, 10 cents each; hogs and sheep, 5 cents each. 198

The Topeka and Perryville Ferry Company had a crossing on the river less than one mile above Tecumseh. The company was chartered March 18, 1871, E. A. Goodell, William P. Douthitt, C. C. Howard, H. C. Beard and William H. Weymouth being the incorporators. The company was capitalized at $2,000, with shares $100 each. This ferry was located at a point where the section line between S. 25 and 36, in T. 11, R. 16, strikes the river in Shawnee county, landing in Jefferson county opposite. Special privileges were granted by the charter for one-half mile above and one-half mile below said point. This charter was filed with the secretary of state, March 20, 1871. 199 The landing on the Shawnee county side was on land owned by Goodell.

At a point two miles above Tecumseh, Derrick Updegraff was granted authority by the legislature of 1860 to maintain a ferry for a period of ten years, the act including special rights for one mile up and one mile down the river. 200 This ferry was on S. 23, T. 11, R. 16, and is shown in Beers' Atlas of Shawnee County, 1873, p. 54. Updegraff was one of the early settlers, locating at Tecumseh in 1854.

Another ferry was started at the above location some years later. On February 28, 1870, a charter was issued to the Topeka and Grantville Ferry Company. Robert C. Love, John F. Center (Carter?), John W. Norton, Harrison M. Knapp and J. B. Whittaker were the incorporators. The principal office of the company had not been decided on at the time the charter was issued, but probably was at Topeka. The company was capitalized at $2,500, with shares at $500 each. The company proposed to operate a ferry over the Kansas river, the south landing to be in S. 23, T. 11, R. 16, in Shawnee county, and on the north side of the river in S. 24, T. 11, R. 16, in Jefferson county. Three directors were chosen for the

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first year, including R. C. Love, John F. Carter and J. B. Whittaker. 201 Two years later another charter was granted to the above-named company, September 23, 1872. The new incorporators were A. W. Knowles, William P. Douthitt, C. 0. Knowles, J. B. Whittaker and Michael Voorhis. The capital stock of the new organization was reduced to $2,000, with shares $100 each. The principal office of the company was at the ferry crossing, which was at the point where the state road from Leavenworth crossed the Kansas river. 202

The above incorporators were Topeka and Shawnee county men and prominent in early business circles. Whittaker was a civil engineer and prepared an early plat of the city of Topeka.

The next ferry upstream was the State Road ferry, also known as Lafon's ferry, having been established in 1862 by Alexander Harvey Lafon, 203 a resident of Jefferson county. This ferry crossed the Kansas river at about S. 23, 24, T. 11, R. 16E. The following, found among a packet of ferry bonds in the office of the Shawnee county clerk, appears to be the earliest record of this ferry:

"To the Honorable County Board of Shawnee county, Kansas.

"The undersigned your petitioner would respectfully represent to your Hon. body that the Leavenworth and Topeka road is now nearly ready for travel from Leavenworth to the north bank of the Kansas river and will be completed at an early date. That the said road crosses the said river at a point where there was not an established ferry. That your petitioner obtained a license from the county board of Jefferson at Jts April 1862 term to open a ferry at the said crossing, which ferry is now nearly ready for use, and as the river at the said point forms the boundary line between the countys of Shawnee and Jefferson it may be necessary for him to obtain a license from each of the said counties.

"He therefore asks your Honors to grant him a ferry license for the said point for the term of nine months from the issue thereof, and also as the ferry may not be profitable he asks that he may be exempt from paying the tax thereon until the amt. of crossing will justify.

Respectfully submitted, A. H. LAFON
July 7th, 1862

A second application for a license, bearing no date, but which must have been for 1862, was presented to the county board, of which the following is a copy:

"To the Board of County Commissioners in and for Shawnee County.

"Whereas Harvey La Fawn [Lafon] of Jefferson county Kansas has obtained a license from said county of Jefferson to keep and maintain a ferry where the state road from Leavenworth to Topeka crosses the Kaw or Kansas river and

356 THE KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

whereas said Harvey LaFawn has a ferry in operation on the Kansas river where said road crosses therefore the said Harvey LaFawn now makes application to the Board of County Commissioners of Shawnee county Kansas for a license to run and maintain a ferry in Shawnee county where the said state road crosses the Kansas river for the space of one year.

A. H. LAPON.

"Received since the establishment of said ferry in cash 35.15. in accounts 38.10."

Lafon was given a license the first year without the usual tax, but was required to give a $1,000 bond, which was approved by the county. This ferry existed for several years and was known as the State Road ferry. Ferriage rates for 1864 were: Government freight wagon, $1.25; 2 horses and wagon, 40 cents; 1 yoke oxen and wagon, 40 cents; 1 horse and buggy, 35 cents; 2 horses and buggy, 50 cents; 4 horse stage, 40 cents; 2 horse stage, 25 cents; man and horse, 25 cents; loose horses and cattle, each 10 cents; sheep and hogs, each 5 cents; footman, 10 cents; each extra team, 15 cents. 204

Lafon's ferry, licensed till the first Monday in January, 1866, apparently went out of business sometime in 1865, as no further mention of its operation has been located.

A. C. Kurd's ferry succeeded the above, and was located at the same place. He was born near Scipio, Alleghany county, N. Y., January 14, 1839. He came to Kansas in 1857, and for a few years worked in a grist mill at Indianola. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company L, Fifth Kansas cavalry. After being mustered out of service he returned to Shawnee county and bought the ferry across the river on the Jefferson-Shawnee county line. He was connected with the ferry for the next seven years, making his home in Jefferson county and farming on the side in the meantime. 206 Ferry charges for the year 1867 were as follows: "Two horses and wagon, 25 cents; for each additional team, 15 cents ; for horseman, 15 cents;

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freight wagon, $1.25; one horse and bug, 20 cents; loose horses and cattel, per head, 10 cents; loose hogs and sheep, per head, 5 cents; footman, 10 cents. But no more than the above fees as filed in the foregoing," the commissioners cautioned in the records. 207

In 1867 Jesse Enochs, a brother-in-law, appeared to have become a partner, and bonds were filed for the years 1867 and 1868, mentioning Fitzsimmons Kurd and A. C. Kurd as proprietors. License fees for these years were $10 each. 208

The Hurds took out a license for 1869, but evidently there was a change in proprietorship early that year, for A. C. Kurd and Jesse Enochs filed a bond as principals with Shawnee county. A $500 bond for the year 1870 was filed on January 1, A. D. Craigue and E. P. Kellam being sureties. 209 Their license this year was issued on April 7. 210

There was a reorganization of the business in the spring of 1870, and Kurd incorporated his ferry under the name of the Leavenworth and Topeka State Road Ferry Company. The charter was filed with the secretary of state April 5, 1870, naming A. C. Kurd, Jesse Enochs, Jacob R. Bowes, John Enochs and James E. Greer as incorporators. Capital stock was placed at $2,000, with shares $200 each. The ferry was to be located at a point known as Kurd's ferry, in S. 24, T. 11, R. 16E., in Tecumseh township, with the principal office of the company at the place where the ferry was located. 211

On April 7, 1870, Hurd and Company applied to Jefferson county for their license, which cost $10, and specified that ferriage rates were to remain the same as charged heretofore and fixed by the county board. 212

For some reason or other Mr. Hurd and Jesse Enochs, his brother-in-law, applied to the legislature of 1871 for right to operate a ferry across the Kansas river. This was House Bill No. 326, of that session. The bill was referred to the committee on corporations, which, after amending the measure, recommended its passage. It failed to pass, dying on the calendar. 213

The same year Hurd applied to Jefferson county for a license, and the county board ordered the county clerk to issue it. 214 The follow-

358 THE KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

ing year, 1872, Speer and Blanchard obtained a license to operate a ferry at this location, stating that their ferry was "where the Kansas river was crossed by the Leavenworth and Topeka state road, at the same point where Hurd and Enochs ran a ferry during the year 1871." Their bond was filed with the clerk of Shawnee county. Rates of ferriage were as follows: Two horses and wagon, 35 cents; one horse, and wagon, 25 cents; horse and rider, 15 cents; loose horses or cattle, 10 cents each; sheep or hogs, 5 cents each; bootman, 10 cents. 215

The following order was issued by the Shawnee county commissioners in 1872: "Robert McCoy, ferry license at old Hurd ferry, on Leavenworth and Topeka state road, $10, he to be allowed to charge the same rates of ferriage as was granted to Hurd and Blanchard. The order granting license to Speer and Blanchard is hereby revoked. Done November 8, 1872." 216

The next spring Jesse Enochs, of Kaw township, Jefferson county, obtained a ferry license dated April 8, 1873, for this same location, giving a $1,000 bond. His ferriage rates were the same as prevailed during the year 1871. 217

Apparently the ferry business was abandoned at this point for several years, the next permit being granted by Shawnee county in 1878, to Enochs and Jackson. They filed a bond for $400, which was approved August 6, 1878. 218 This probably was the last ferrying done at this location.

The next ferry above was at the old town of Calhoun, about one mile distant, the landing on the north side being on tract No. 7, Kaw half breed lands, and on the south being on S. 23, T. 11, R. 16. In 1857 James Kuykendall was authorized to maintain a ferry at this town, with special privileges for one mile up and one mile down, for a period of twenty years. 219 Kuykendall must have retired from the business within the next two years, as the ferry went into other hands. James Kuykendall was a pioneer in county business in old Calhoun county. He had held the office of sheriff of Platte county, Missouri, for four years, had been probate judge for a decade, and a public man generally. In Calhoun he was probate judge, chairman of the board of county commissioners, register of deeds, county clerk and prosecuting attorney. 220

ROOT: FERRIES IN KANSAS 359

Kuykendall may have been looking forward to patronage for his ferry, for in 1855 he, together with James Wilson 221 and William Christison, were commissioned to lay out a road from Delaware on the Missouri river to Calhoun on the Kansas river. This road had two branches, one terminating at Topeka, on the south side of the river, the other continuing up the Kaw valley and intersecting the military road from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Riley, near the Soldier-creek crossing, at Indianola. 222 With all its advantages, the Calhoun ferry landing on the south side of the river terminated in an expanse of heavy river sand 223 which must have been somewhat of a drawback.

Kuykendall retired from the ferry business probably late in 1858, for the Topeka Tribune of April 28, 1859, stated that there were several ferries in operation on the river to accommodate the travel to the gold mines, one being at Calhoun Bluffs, and operated by Robert Walker. The same issue contained the following "puff" of this ferry: "Calhoun Ferry We publish an advertisement for the ferry. The proprietor, Mr. Walker, has fitted up a new boat and promises to cross teams, etc., with safety and despatch. He will do a good business as he understands the benefits arising from Printer's Ink."

The advertisement referred to above follows:

CALHOUN FERRY
ROBERT WALKER.

"The proprietor of the above named ferry takes this method to inform the traveling public, that having built a new, large class boat, and gone to great expense in grading down the landings, he is prepared to cross teams, droves and travelers, &c. with greatest safety and dispatch, and at the lowest customary rates.

"This ferry is situated on the shortest, best and most direct route from Leavenworth, via Topeka, Council Grove to Santa Fe or the Pike's Peak gold mines, and most of this travel is now crossing here. Persons teaming between Leavenworth and Topeka will find this route five miles nearer, with better road and accommodations than by way of Indianola, besides avoiding the Soldier creek ford.

Calhoun, April 21st, 1855
ROBERT WALKER.

The following year found Mr. Walker getting ready for travel. A local Topeka paper said: "Robert Walker gives notice that he has refitted his ferry at Calhoun, five miles east of Topeka, and that teamsters to the river will save time and travel by going to his ferry to cross. He has opened a house of entertainment, near

360 THE KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

by, where he will rest the weary and feed the hungry. Try him. He will do as he agrees." 224

The following advertisement appeared at the same time:

"Calhoun Ferry Robert Walker would remind the traveling public that he has refitted the above ferry in a most substantial manner, making it an expeditious and safe crossing. The road to Leavenworth by this ferry is shorter by several miles than any other, as well as better.

"I have also opened a house of entertainment on the north bank of the river, known as the Calhoun House, where belated travelers can find every accommodation and comfort which a Western hotel affords.

"Service prompt and charges moderate." 225

The Calhoun ferry location apparently was not a profitable one, and was probably abandoned by Mr. Walker after the season of 1862, as no further mention of it has been located other than this bond, filed that year:

"Know all men by these presents that we G. P. Clark as principal and Robert Walker as security are held and firmly bound unto the state of Kansas in the sum of One Thousand Dollars lawful money of the United States to be paid to the state of Kansas, for which payment well and truly to be made we hereby bind ourselves our heirs executors and administrators firmly by these presents. Sealed with our seals dated the 10th day of May, A. D., 1862. The condition of the above obligation is such that whereas the county clerk, and clerk of the board of county commissioners of the county of Shawnee, in vacation has granted to the said G. P. Clark a license 'to keep a ferry on the Kansas river, at the crossing of the same near the town of Calhoun, in Calhoun [now Shawnee] county' and state of Kansas, until the end of the next term of said board of county commissioners. Now if the said G. P. Clark shall faithfully perform the duties required by law at such ferry then this obligation to be void, otherwise to be and remain in full force and virtue.

G. P. CLARK, (Seal)
ROBERT WALKER (Seal)

[Endorsed on back] "Approved this 10 day of May A. D., 1862 HIRAM McARTHUR County Clerk." 226

In 1861 Robert Walker evidently was seeking a new location for his ferry. That year he applied to the legislature for a charter for a ferry to be located at or close to the mouth of Soldier creek, over the Kansas river. This act granted special privileges for one mile up and one mile down the river; was vetoed by the governor, and was passed over his veto by both houses. 221 This location is near the "three bridges" over Soldier creek, two of which are railroad bridges, and just on the outskirts of North Topeka.

ROOT: FERRIES IN KANSAS 361

Following the granting of this charter, Walker made application for a ferry license, his bond having been signed by Daniel Handley:

"To the Hon. Board of County Commissioners of the County of Shawnee:

"The petition of Robert Walker a resident of the county of Shawnee and state of Kansas respectfully shows that the interests of the traveling public require that a ferry should be kept at or near the mouth of Soldier creek across the Kansas river and to the end that the public convenience may be subserved by the keeping of such ferry your petitioner prays your Honorable body to grant him a license to keep a ferry for one year at the place aforesaid or within one mile above or below the mouth of said Soldier creek.

By 1862 the Walker ferry had passed into the control of Joseph Middaugh and Oren A. Curtis.

About the time the ferrying season of 1862 was approaching, the ferry proprietors of Topeka and vicinity of Soldier creek must have inspired the following petition which was presented to the county board:

'To The Honorable The Board of County Commissioners of Shawnee County.

"The undersigned respectfully petition your honorable board that the rates of ferriage for the coming year to be collected at the ferries across the Kansas river near the mouth of Soldier creek and at the city of Topeka may be fixed at the following rates to wit:

The petition must have been successful, for the following order was issued:

"It is hereby ordered by the board of county commissioners in and for Shawnee County and state of Kansas that J. Middaugh and O. A. Curtice are hereby granted a licence for a ferey at Topeka on the payment to the county clerk the sum of fifteen dollars and they are hereby authorized to collect the folowing charges for crosing:

Government freight wagon

$1 .25

Two hoss Wagon

.40--Buggy, .50

One yoke of oxen and wagon

.40--Each extra team, .15

One hoss Buggy

.35

Fore hoss Stage

.40

two hoss Stage

.25

man and hors

.25

Loose bosses and Cattle

.10

Sheep and hogs

.05

footman

.10

"And the same license for the lower ferry commonly known as Walker's ferry and also the same rates of ferrage for the said lower ferry for the space of one year and no longer.

Little is known of the operation of this ferry, and aside from the following complaint and the record of licenses and bonds, nothing else has been located:

County of Shawnee | "To the Hon. board of County Commissioners of

State of Kansas j the above named county of Shawnee.

"Your petitioners would respectfully ask of your Hon. Court that the proprietors and grantees of the ferry on the Topeka to Leavenworth road known as the Curtis & Middaugh ferry crossing the Kaw river about 2Vz miles below the city of Topeka be compelled to put the same in a fit and proper condition for travel.

"And would further state that the landings of said ferry are in an almost impassable condition to the great detriment of travellers teamsters & the public generally and to the manifest injury of the interests of Shawnee co. all of which we most respectfully submit.

Joseph Middaugh and 0. A. Curtis operated this ferry up to 1864. 233 Beginning with 1865, William Curtis and Mr. Middaugh became business associates in this ferry, applying for a license and filing a bond for $1,000 for operating at this point. 234

The next ferry up the river was located at the foot of Kansas avenue, Topeka. Just when it was located at this point has not been definitely ascertained, but it must have been close to the year 1860, which year 0. A. Curtis, father of former Vice President Charles Curtis, was in charge. Mr. Curtis had previously been employed by the Papans to run their ferryboat. At this time there was a large island in the center of the river on a line with Kansas avenue. The ferry crossed just above this island. Later a pontoon bridge succeeded the ferry, being anchored to trees on this island.

About one-half mile west of Kansas avenue was the original location of the Papan ferry, variously stated to have been located at the foot of Western avenue, or at the foot of Polk or Tyler streets. However, there is evidence that some sort of a roadway ran to the river close to the foot of Tyler, just immediately below the present Rock Island Railway bridge, as the remains of an old corduroy road show (1933) at this point in at least three separate places. This old roadway was accidentally uncovered while excavat-

364 THE KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

ing for a large storm sewer which empties into the river at this point. The old road had been covered with silt to a depth of several feet in places, portions of it apparently having been destroyed by flood or having been removed by other agencies. The Papans came into present Soldier township in 1840, and in 1842 established a ferry, the south landing of which was within the boundaries of the city streets named above. At this time there was some travel between Fort Leavenworth and Mexico and the Southwest soldiers, trappers, traders, surveyors, explorers, government officers and others enough to justify them in starting a ferry. They built a log house on the river bank adjacent to their ferry and here they made their home. The first boats operated by these pioneers were primitive affairs, being fashioned from logs, hollowed out and known as "dug outs," and propelled by long poles or oars.

One of the earliest mentions of this ferry is the following, written in May, 1843, by one of a party of emigrants on the way to Oregon:

". . . We came to the edge of the Caw river. The river was considerably swollen on account of recent rains. There were no boats and of course no bridges then, but a Frenchman in the neighborhood had three dugouts made of logs. These my father secured the next morning and with them made a platform, fastening the dugouts about four feet apart, and on this very primitive craft the wagons were one by one ferried across. The better part of two days was spent in crossing the river . . . We rested a day at the Caw river because the rains were so heavy, and about Friday we started on again. . . . There were one hundred and twenty-seven wagons in our company and something over four hundred and fifty souls." 235

Another with this expedition says: "We learn from Burnett, who kept a brief journal of the trip, that his division 'on the 24th [May] reached the Walcalusia [Wakarusa] river,' where he says: 'We let our wagons down the steep banks by ropes.' They reached the Kansas river on the 26th and finished crossing it five days later." 236

The year 1844 has gone down in history as the year of the big flood in Kansas. That year the Kaw river valley for weeks was a seething torrent. The river extended from bluff to bluff. Where North Topeka now stands flood waters twenty feet deep or more covered the land and swept the valley as far as eye could reach. United States army engineers gathering data during 1933 for the Kiro dam project have estimated that the flood of 1903 lacked eight feet of attaining the height during the flood of 1844. Statement of V. R. Parkhurst, Topeka civil engineer, to the author,

ROOT: FERRIES IN KANSAS 365

August 29, 1933. During the height of the flood, Major Cummings, paymaster for the United States army, wishing to cross from the south to the north side of the river, was rowed by an Indian from a point about the corner of Topeka avenue and Second street, Topeka, to the bluffs a mile or more beyond Soldier creek. One of the Papans lived in a house just above the Kansas avenue bridge of to-day. This house withstood the flood until the waters came under the eaves, when it floated away. The river at this time cut a new channel, making an island of the land on which the house stood. During the flood their ferry outfit was swept away. The Papans returned to their old home in Kansas City, where they remained about two years, when they returned and reestablished their ferry. 237

"The ferry was not always in one place. Year by year, as the river changed, it would move up or down; wherever the banks made the best landing they would move their boat, but always within a few rods of their homes. They served the travelers who were going north and south on their way west, and it was a good business, for they were usually in a hurry and were willing to pay good prices to cross the yellow torrent. In those days the river was larger than it is now and it was a hard and dangerous task to ford it any place. Their boat was a crude affair, made of hand-hewn logs, with a guide rope to keep it in place. The current helped it across, but most of the power was furnished by sweeps and poles in the hands of the ferrymen and passengers, who usually had to work, as well as pay their way across." 238

Joseph H. Ware, in The Emigrant's Guide to California, published in 1849, says: "At the Kansas crossing, distance 100 miles, you will find a ferry owned by two Indians (French Kaws). The charge for crossing is one dollar for a wagon; horses or loose stock you can swim across. About ten miles above there is a mission station by the M. E. [Baptist?] Church where any blacksmith work can be done, which accidents have made necessary."

From 1847 to 1853 the Papans did a flourishing business, as the Orgeon and California travel was very heavy about this time. A log house built by them in 1848 was standing, northwest of North Topeka, during the middle 1870's. 239 The Papans also operated a toll bridge across Shunganunga creek, about three-fourths of a mile east of the present Topeka Santa Fe depot. A large percentage of the overland California traffic crossed over their bridge and ferry. 240

In 1853 Papan's ferry was operating about a mile below the Kaw Indian village of Fool Chief, which at that time was located in the Kaw valley, between the river and Soldier creek, on the S. E. % of

366 THE KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

S. 16, T. 11, R. 15, a little over four miles west of the mouth of Soldier creek. 241

John E. Rastall, an old-time Kansan, crossed the Kaw on this ferry during 1856, and described the incident in the old Kansas Magazine, of Topeka, in its issue of January, 1873, as follows:

"The crossing of the Kaw (Kansas) river was infinitely quicker, safer and more pleasant than that of the Missouri. The foresight of the citizens had provided a long and strong wire cable which was stretched across, its south end being fastened near what is now the foot of Polk street, in Topeka. Attached to this wire was a flatboat, sufficiently large to carry a wagon and two yoke of oxen, and similar in build to the one before mentioned. By an ingenious contrivance, the boat, though without wheels, oars, or motive power within itself, was self propelling. Upon the cable were two wheels, or pulleys, through which were passed lines fastened to the boat. The line at the bow, connecting it with the wheel on the cable, was somewhat shorter than on the stern, so that the craft lay at an angle of forty-five degrees with the rapid current of the stream. This current striking the side diagonally, and passing around the stern, gave a forward motion to the boat, and the wheels upon the cable acting freely, we soon slipped across to our destination, Topeka what there was of it."

Max Greene, in his The Kansas Region, published in the year 1856, describing ferries, had this to say of this early-day enterprise:

"Next is Pappan's ferry; with Pappan's house on the right, peeping cosily out from its environment of trees. On the other side, an open plain uplifts its garlands braided in the tall, rank grass that sways to the combing breeze. Here is the eastern limit of the Pottawatomies, one hundred and fifteen miles from the mouth of the river. Passing onward, broad wings of timber fold in on both sides; with the southern bluffs looming up a hundred feet. The Great Crossing is then reached, where there are three ferries. On the south bank is a Pottawatomie village, with stores, a Baptist Mission and school. In this field of labor, the agents of the church have been more successful than ordinary, and there are some children of the wild who have reason to bless their efforts."

Just how late the Papans operated their ferry has not been learned, but it must have been into the middle 1850's. They may have operated more than one ferry, as contemporary accounts mention them in widely separated places several miles west of Topeka, and also on the Anthony Ward farm adjoining Topeka, at about the foot of Western avenue. This last location was a little over one and a half miles south of the Indianola crossing of Soldier creek on the Fort Leavenworth military road. 242

Peter De Shattio, descendant of an old St. Louis family, who

ROOT: FERRIES IN KANSAS 367

married Ann Davis, a free negro woman, at Uniontown, about 1848, moved to the vicinity of present Topeka and took a claim lying alongside the Kansas river. While living there De Shattio operated the Papan ferry for a year or more. He later relinquished his claim and took another to the southwest of the Topeka townsite, thinking the city would be built there.

In 1885 Messrs. Martin and Coville 243 were owners and operators of the old ferry. On August 13, 1856, a wagon train of about 60 wagons, and followed by about 500 persons, arrived at the north landing and were brought across. This train had started from Milwaukee, Wis., on May 20, and continual accessions to it were made in the territory through which it passed, until it became a small-size army in itself. 244 This was commonly known as "Lane's Army of the North." Ferry charges as fixed by the commissioners of Shawnee county for that year were: Two horses and one wagon, $1 ; each additional span of horses or yoke of cattle, 25 cents ; loose cattle or horses, per head, 10 cents; one horse and wagon, 75 cents; man and horse, 25 cents ; foot passengers, 10 cents ; sheep and hogs, per head, 5 cents.

By April, 1857, the ferry appears to have been in new hands. An item in the Topeka Tribune, of April 13, stated that "Messrs. Howard & Co. would start their ferry again for the season of 1857 near the place occupied last year."

P. I. Bonebrake, a resident of Shawnee county and for many years a resident of Topeka, crossed the ferry in June, 1859. He and his wife had arrived opposite Topeka, in what later became the town of Eugene (now North Topeka). It was then a forest, inhabited by French-Kaw half-breed Indians. The river was crossed by a rope ferry operated by the Papans. At this time Topeka had about 600 people. The town was not inviting. A steamboat had just passed up the river, laden with merchandise, and in going up had severed the cable on which the ferry operated. As a consequence he and Mrs. Bonebrake had to go into camp for three days to allow the proprietor to procure another cable from Leavenworth. In the meantime many teams and immigrants gathered in the bottom near the river Pike's Peak government trains, Kaw Indians, dogs, etc., all waiting to be crossed. 245

368 THE KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

There is some conflicting opinion as to the location of the Papan ferry landing on the south side of the river. Their house was built on the river bank in 1842 and it was swept away during the flood of 1844, leaving a large island in the river where the cabin stood. Beers' Atlas of Shawnee County, 1873, shows this island as extending from Jackson westward to near Polk street nearly five city blocks in length. While some authorities give the Papan landing as far west as Western avenue, there is a possibility it was located at one time several blocks down stream. Former Vice President Curtis, whose father took over the old Papan ferry, has written the following regarding the location:

WASHINGTON, D. C, September 16th, 1933.

"My Dear Root I have your letter and was glad to hear from you. I remember the old ferry boat quite well. We lived on Harrison street just a block from the river and the landing on the North side was between Harrison street and Topeka avenue. For years after the old pontoon bridge was built the old ferry boat was on a little sand bar on the North side of the river. I do not know what year the boat was first established, but Harvey [Henry?] Worral made a painting of the ferry boat, the Pappan ferry, as it appeared in 1854, entitled 'Where traffic between the East and the West crossed the Kaw river in pioneer days.' I would not be surprised if you found this painting in the Historical Society.

"After Grandfather Pappan gave up the ferry boat the charter or grant was taken over by my father and Joseph Middaugh, and I understand Father and Middaugh were operating the ferry boat when the pontoon bridge was built.

Sorry I cannot give you more information.

With kindest regards, I am,
Very truly yours,
CHARLES CURTIS.

George A. Root, Esq.,
324 Lindenwood Avenue,
Topeka, Kansas.

"P. S. I think Mr. W., son and daughter still live in Topeka."

Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune, was a distinguished visitor who crossed the ferry May 24, 1859, while on his way west. He arrived in Topeka that day, made a speech, and returned next morning to Indianola, to catch the stage running west. 246

Eighteen hundred and sixty will be remembered as the year of the "drouth." According to the Topeka Tribune of May 5, "the river at this place is extremely low, and it is with some difficulty that the ferry boats make their regular trips." The same authority, in issue of September 1 following, stated: "The river at Topeka is

ROOT: FERRIES IN KANSAS 369

now extremely low lower than it has been since the season of 1843, according to Mr. Papan." At this time the ferry was operated from a point near the foot of Western avenue, about one-half mile west of Kansas avenue, Topeka.

A movement for a bridge at Topeka was started in 1856, and on February 14, 1857, a charter for a structure across the Kaw was obtained from the legislature. This was a pile bridge and opened for travel on May 1, 1858. It was a great help to traffic while it lasted, but its days were numbered. The month of July, 1858, was a damp one in territory drained by the Kaw, and a rise in the river said to be unequalled since the flood of 1844, followed. On the morning of July 17, following, just about two and one-half months after the opening of the bridge, it floated away, leaving four regiments of United States soldiers, with a large baggage train, bound for Fort Union, and several trains of Russell, Majors & Waddell, stranded at the river, waiting to cross. 247

Apparently nothing was done about rebuilding or repairing the pile bridge built in 1858 until the following winter, when the officers of the bridge company made an attempt to get the bridge in working order. The Topeka Tribune in January, 1859, printed the following, which depicted the situation at that time:

THE TOPEKA BRIDGE

"Efforts are now being made to have this crossing of the Kansas river completed in two months from the present time. Mr. Gordon, the president of the company, informed us that this could be done by building the bridge from the island to the opposite side of the river, and running a ferry on this side of the island until the whole length could be completed, which can be done in about four months, with the present efficient corps of workers. The timbers have been contracted for and men are busily engaged preparing them for use. But a few months and we can again cross the river at Topeka on a bridge." Topeka Tribune, copied in Kansas Press, Wathena, January 29, 1859.

This bridge was located at the foot of Kansas avenue and was never rebuilt, 248 so the old ferry, located on the island about one block west, again came into its own.

The Topeka Tribune of September 30, following, stated there was a good ferry at this place, but no bridge, but the rebuilding of one was discussed. A new bridge appears to have been started late in the fall. In the latter part of January, 1859, a local paper stated that work on the new bridge was progressing at a good rate, and that

370 THE KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

it was thought it would be completed in about four months. Meantime the ferries were worked feverishly. The Pike's Peak excitement was at its height and travel through Topeka was increasing daily. The Topeka Tribune, of April 7, 1859, stated that it was estimated a thousand persons passed through the city for the gold mines this date. A week later, it mentioned that "the ferries at this place are kept running constantly to enable traders to get to Leavenworth to obtain goods for the Pike's Peak trade."

Work was started on a pontoon bridge across the river at Topeka late in the fall of 1859, which was ready for service early in January, I860. 249

Oren A. Curtis had worked for Papans on their ferry as early as 1858, and the next year formed a partnership with S. L. Munger. The following application was filed with the Shawnee County Commissioners:

"To the Hon. The County Supervisors of Shawnee County

"The undersigned Salmon L. Munger a citizen of the county of Shawnee and O. A. Curtis a citizen of the county of Jackson, would respectfully petition your honorable body to grant them a license to keep and run a ferry across the Kaw river at the city of Topeka in said county of Shawnee for the term of one year, & your petitioners will every pray &c.

August 1, 1859. S. L. MUNGER & O. A. CURTIS.

This partnership, apparently, did not last very long, for the Topeka Tribune of December 17, following, stated that the ferry was again in the hands of Mr. Curtis. It was said to be in good order and that two boats were maintained.

The following advertisement appeared in the Topeka Tribune as early as January 14, 1860, and ran for several weeks:

TOPEKA FERRY!

"This first class ferry across the Kansas river, is again in the hands of the subscriber, who is making quick trips with the greatest of safety. My boats are good, and hands experienced. This is certainly the best and most reliable ferry on the river. O. A. CURTIS, Proprietor."

Later in 1860 Curtis formed a partnership with Joseph Middaugh and they secured a charter from the territorial legislature granting them authority to maintain a ferry for a period of five years. In case the river should be bridged before five years, the charter was to terminate when the bridge was built. No other ferry was to be established or set up within two miles of the city. The company was privileged to use steam, horse or flat boats as the wants of the

ROOT: FERRIES IN KANSAS 371

public demanded. 250 The State Record of February 4, 1860, said they had one boat running at that time.

The Topeka Tribune, of March 24, following, stated that "O. A. Curtis is now in charge of the Topeka ferry. It is on the route from Leavenworth to Topeka, Santa Fe and the gold mines." In the issue of May 5, following, the Tribune pays Mr. Curtis the compliment of saying that he "makes the best time of any ferryman upon the river. Two boats are kept in use. They can put a government train across in three hours' time." The same authority, in issue of September 1, printed this item: "Ferry Topeka. Mr. Curtis informs us that he is bridging the river at this point, and if the dry weather continues during the fall, the entire river will be bridged excepting that part on which his ferry lies. The distance is very short now on which he runs a boat. Curtis knows how to run a ferry."

No record of their application for a license has been located, but the following bond was filed with the county clerk:

"Know all men by these presents that I, Owen [Oren] A. Curtice [Curtis], of Jackson, territory of Kansas, and Joseph Middaugh of Topeka, Shawnee county, in said territory, both as principals, and Milton C. Dickey and H. G. Young of said Topeka as sureties, are holden and stand firmly bound unto any person who may become entitled thereto, & in the sum which the said Curtice and Middaugh may become liable to pay according to the conditions of these presents as follows, to wit: Whereas the said Curtice and Middaugh

have been authorized by act of the territorial legislature of the territory of Kansas for the year A. D. 1860, to wit, an act entitled an 'Act to establish a ferry at the city of Topeka' to establish and maintain a public ferry across the Kansas river at the city of Topeka, now if the said Curtice and Middaugh shall fully comply with and observe all the provisions of said act, then this obligation shall be void, otherwise to remain in full force and effect.

"We the undersigned members of the board of supervisors of the aforesaid county do hereby certify that the within bond signed by A. Curtice and Joseph Middaugh as principal and M. C. Dickey and H. G. Young as sureties is hereby approved and accepted. Witness our hands and seals the 20th day of Feby., 1860.

Facsimile of handbill (reduced about one-half from the original) advertising the Curtis- Middaugh ferry at Topeka. O. A. Curtis was the father of former Vice President Charles Curtis.

Rates for the next year were practically the same, a reduction of ten cents for extra team being the only change in existing rates, but "ministers one-half price when going to appointments" being added.

ROOT: FERRIES IN KANSAS 373

Evidently some dissatisfaction regarding the bridge and ferry situation in Topeka developed that fall and winter. The Tribune of January 19, 1861, contained the following: "Ferry Meeting. We are requested to state that a meeting will be held in Museum Hall, this evening, to take into consideration the state of the ferry across the Kansas river at this place. Citizens are requested to attend."

It would be interesting to know whether or not this called meeting was held, and just what action, if any, was taken. As the Tribune for the next several weeks contained no further mention of the matter, the meeting apparently was a "fizzle."

On February 23, following, the Tribune had another mention of the situation:

"A SHAME. It is a shame upon our town that those persons who come through here, from southern Kansas, for these relief goods, have to give away one-fourth their load to pay the ferriage across the Kansas river; when it is a fact that there are several hundred dollars in the hands of committeemen and agents belonging by rights to the county living in our city, and which means could not be better appropriated than by paying the ferry here for those who have not the means. Some complain of Mr. Middaugh, the ferryman, because he will not take less than the regular fees. He should have a fair price for his labor, and the money sent here from the East should go to pay such bills.

"Since writing the above we understand that the Topeka relief committee have generously undertaken to pay the ferriage of all teams sent for relief. This is right. Now we know where a part of the money goes."

Middaugh and Curtis, in addition to operating the Topeka ferry, also ran the old Walker ferry, as has been stated. These they operated until 1864, their annual license for each costing $15, in addition to a bond of $1,000. Ferriage charges had been changed slightly by 1864; the cost of a horse and buggy ferried costing 30 cents, instead of 35 cents; a four-horse stage costing 60 cents, compared to 40 cents; a two-horse stage costing 30 cents instead of 25 cents, and footmen 15 cents instead of 10 cents. 251

On June 19, 1863, another effort was made to secure a bridge at Topeka, and O. A. Curtis was one among the eleven who secured a charter for the Shawnee Bridge Company. 252 This company accomplished nothing. On July 30, 1864, another company, known as the Topeka Bridge Company, received a charter from the state. 253 This company met with no better success than its predecessor, and on January 5, 1865, it applied for a new charter, 254 which was granted, and completed a pontoon bridge by October 18, following.

374 THE KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

"This bridge rested upon thirteen flat boats, each 15 x 25 feet, and placed about fifty feet apart. The boats were held in place by a wire cable stretched across the river. The pontoon occupied the same place where the bridge of 1858 stood." 255

The Kaw river apparently continued in a normal condition for a number of years following the flood of 1858. The next mention of flood waters in the stream at Topeka was the following in the State Record of August 12, 1863: "The Kansas river has not been so high for a great while as during the past week. There must have been high raises on the Blue and Republican, as well as along the Kaw valley to have caused such a rise. The mail due here Saturday night did not get in till 2 p. m., Sunday, owing to ferrying on account of high water."

High waters in the Kaw river were a menace early in the year 1867. The river then was higher than at any time since 1858, when the pile bridge was swept away. The toll house, located on the island to the west of Kansas avenue, was in danger. About the eighth or ninth of February that section of the pontoon bridge to the south of the island was swept away by the waters, a few of the boats drifting as far as Lawrence, the remainder being caught and secured at Lecompton. Following this mishap the bridge company installed ferry boats which operated from the south shore to the end of the pontoon bridge on the island, these being operated by Capt. Daniel H. Home and his assistant, Tim Felton. In the meantime Capt. O. A. Curtis again began operating his ferry boat from his location a few blocks above Kansas avenue. 256 These boats made trips across the raging waters when but few people had the hardihood to undertake it. The bridge company had been doing a lucrative business up to this time, and they lost no time in repairing the damage, which was estimated at about $5,000. 257 The missing boats were eventually brought back and again put into service. In spite of this handicap in the matter of transportation, the hotels of the capital city did well. 258 The Topeka Leader of March 14, 1867, printed the following, which summed up the local situation pretty accurately:

"The raging Kaw still continues master of the situation; apparently not content with the victory gained over our pontoons, he summoned the aid of the Northern King, and now carries on his ruffled bosom, huge masses of ice, by which last piece of strategy he has completely circumvented the wiseacres

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who control the skiffs and attend to the mails, leaving the poor Topekaites to realize the disadvantage under which they labor cut off, as they are, from the outer world.

"Vive La Kaw."

The inconvenience of being without the pontoon bridge prompted a correspondent of the Tribune to ask: "Will the boat of bridges never come back over the stormy water?"

Old residents of Topeka have said the pontoons would go out with about every freshet in the river. This appeared to be the case early in June, 1867, when a large excursion party arrived over the Kansas Pacific Railroad for a visit to the capital city. The visitors landed at Eugene (present North Topeka) on the 4th, but owing to a break in the bridge, only a few of the party braved the angry waters and crossed over to the city to spend the night. 259

Operating the ferry or the bridge was not always a humdrum job. Once in a while something unexpected happened to break the monotony. The following, from the Topeka Leader, October 17, 1867, is an illustration:

"Seventy-five Indians in the calaboose, in North Topeka, on Monday last. They had been indulging in fire water pretty freely, and took charge of the pontoon, allowing no one to cross. They were away up high on the war path; one of them striking at the deputy marshal with a long knife, cut through his coat, grazing the flesh. Each one of these copper-colored gentlemen was provided with a pocket pistol, holding from a half-pint to a quart each."

Early in March, 1866, those interested in the pontoon bridge organized a new company known as the Capital Bridge Company, composed of Dr. D. W. Stormont, Joshua Knowles, S. D. MacDonald, F. L. Crane, E. A. Goodell, William E. Bowker, Josiah M. Cole, and John G. Otis. The purpose of this organization was to build and operate bridges and ferries across the river at a point where the section line between S. 29 and 30, T. 11, R. 16, strikes the south bank of the Kansas river, or at any point on the river within two miles above or below that point. This company was capitalized at $60,000, with shares at $100 each. The charter was filed with the secretary of state, March 8, 1866. 260 This company never built any bridge under this authority and may not have operated a ferry at that point.

In 1869 the bridge company began work on a permanent structure which was opened for traffic in the spring of 1870, after which the Topeka ferries went out of business.

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Topeka became an important road center after it had been chosen as the future state capital. Even before that it was an important location, being close to the old Oregon and California road on the south side of the river which crossed on Papan's and Smith's ferries, and being but a few miles from the old Fort Leavenworth to Fort Riley military road. Beginning with 1860, the legislature of that year laid out two roads that affected Topeka, one running from Leavenworth, crossing Big Stranger below the mouth of Fall creek, and on to Topeka 261; another ran from Atchison to Superior, in Osage county, via Valley Falls and Topeka. 262 Five established in 1861 ran from Topeka to Council Grove; from Topeka to the Nebraska line, in direction of Salem, by way of Holton, Eureka, Grenada and Capioma; from Topeka to Chelsea, via Auburn, Wilmington, Americus, Toledo and Cottonwood Falls; from Topeka to Minneola, via Twin Mound; and from Leavenworth to Topeka, by way of Oskaloosa. 263 In 1862 one was laid out between Topeka and Lecompton. 264 In 1863 the state road from Topeka to Council

Grove was changed. 265 Five were established in 1865, one running from Topeka to Centropolis and thence to Ottawa ; one from Topeka, on the line between ranges 15 and 16, as near as practicable, to Henry Mitchell's farm on South Cedar creek, thence to Holton and Wathena; one from Topeka to the Sac and Fox agency; one from Topeka crossing the California road, as near as practicable to the farm known as the Shields farm, and on to Clinton, Douglas county; and one from the south side of Sixth avenue, west, in city of Topeka, via Wabaunsee county and connecting with the Topeka and Council Grove road. 266 Others were established in 1866, one of which ran from Topeka to One Hundred and Ten; another from a point near the crossing of Buck creek, via the Union Pacific Railroad, in Jefferson county, at or near the line between the townships of Kentucky and Kaw, connecting with the state road running from the city of Leavenworth, via Oskaloosa, to Topeka; another from the north end of the bridge across the Kansas river at Topeka and intersecting the state road from Topeka to Leavenworth, at or near the place where said road crosses the Big Muddy. Oren A. Curtis, Joseph Middaugh and J. M. Kuykendall were commissioners appointed to establish this last named road. 267 This was about the last of the early state roads that affected Topeka.